Dr. Siwan Anderson is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of British Columbia in Canada. She is a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), a fellow of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), and an associate of Theoretical Research in Development Economics (ThReD). Dr. Anderson main area of research is micro-level institutions and economic development. Some of her work focuses on the role of gender. Recent projects include studies of rural governments and credit cooperatives in Maharashtra, female property rights, and missing women in developing countries.

Existing evidence suggests that while political reservation for traditionally marginalised groups tilts governance outcomes in favour of those groups, there are non-discernable or negative effects on the overall quality of governance. This column demonstrates that in a divided society like that of village India, where politics is organised along identity lines, reservation could indeed improve overall governance quality.
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The developing world has notoriously low sex ratios, a phenomenon that has been described as ‘missing women’. This is believed to be driven by parental preferences for sons, sex-selective abortion and different levels of care during infancy. This column shows that these higher rates of female mortality continue into adulthood. It argues that being unmarried, especially through widowhood, is a key factor behind this trend.
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Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among young Indians. This column finds that improved inheritance rights for women are associated with an increase in the incidence of suicide among both men and women in India, particularly men. Strengthened position of women alters negotiations within the household resulting in increased family conflict and intense stress for individuals.
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This column presents results of a study that breaks down “missing women” by age across the Indian states. It illustrates that Indian women face the risk of excess mortality at every stage of their lives, and attempts to explain excess female deaths in India after birth.
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Rural India remains a caste-based society. This column explores why caste continues to play such an important role and what the effects are. It argues that trade and agricultural productivity suffer, as well as the functioning of democracy.
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